


Retenue

by GraphDesino



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Blood/Gore (implied), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-28 00:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2712056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraphDesino/pseuds/GraphDesino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaneki is an impolite dinner guest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retenue

“You’re not really going to just _stare_ at it, are you?” His tone was syrupy, his words laced with his own particular brand of loving cruelty. He spun lazily in his chair, grinning at Kaneki from across the table, and swirled the half-full wine glass in his hand. “You’d really let it go to waste?”

Kaneki prodded one of the cutlets on his plate with his fork, his face fixed in an expression of disgust. He had to fight to keep it that way, admittedly; the scent drifting up from the meat was heavenly, and it had been drizzled with some kind of reduction or sauce (which was tellingly crimson in color). He glanced helplessly around the room, his gaze settling on a heavily annotated, translated copy of _The Joy of Cooking_. God only knew how that recipe must’ve been modified. French Baroque music filled the silence that settled over the dinnertable, though Kaneki knew those black eyes were fixed on him, drinking him in, consuming him.

“I can’t,” he finally murmured. “I’m sorry. I told you, I just can’t.”

“You _can_ , and you _must_ , _amore_. You’re still growing.” Shuu flashed a bone-white smile, punctuating himself with a long sip. The red liquid left sticky, thick contrails along the inside of the glass, and he licked his lips to get the last traces off. “And if you must eat, you should eat _well_.”

Kaneki knew it was more than just a friendly suggestion, though the other man would rather hang himself than ruin the atmosphere of a dinner party. He straightened, buying a few moments by smoothing his blazer. (Shuu had _demanded_ black tie, but a suit was the best he could manage on a college kid’s budget. And somehow he doubted it would matter in the end.) He gripped his fork like a surgeon’s scalpel. His stomach ached, the acid burning at the back of his throat – how long had it been, anyway? Days? A week? Tonight it was bad enough to eat at his mind, to erode the part of him best equipped to resist this. His eye throbbed like he’d been squinting for hours.

“It’s going to get cold,” Shuu crooned, delighting in his agony.

“I can’t.” A pleading note in his voice. He ducked his head down, his fingertips rubbing his temples. Shuu cackled. It was so futile. Whatever sat before him smelled like his mother’s burgers, fresh off the griddle, like smoke and sweetness and the sensation of tendons tearing between his jaws, of juices spilling over his lips –

He closed his eyes and took a bite.

“ _Merveilleux_ , Kaneki.”    
  
His cheeks were stained with what might’ve been tears, and he wolfed the rest before he could look down again.


End file.
